2014 Roadfood Tour Destination: Charlotte, North Carolina.

Save the date!

Prepare your appetite for the sweetest smoked swine, the crustiest fried chicken, pimiento cheese galore, and peerless banana pudding. This fall's Roadfood tour will take place October 18-19 in and around Charlotte, North Carolina.

CLT airport is a major hub and flights are currently very cheap, so if you are planning to come along and arrive by plane, do book your reservations now. We suggest flying into town by the evening of Thursday, October 16, so we can get an early start on Friday. We plan for the tour to end by late afternoon Saturday, and we will schedule the tour bus to make a stop at the airport, so you can book a flight out any time after 6pm on the 18th.

I am working on getting us a good hotel deal.

What will we be eating? Barbecue, of course, at some of the finest hog parlors on earth, from Indian Land, South Carolina, to the legendary barbecue town of Lexington and the unique joys of Keaton's in Statesville, whose proprietor is a special Roadfood friend. Of course, there's superb fried chicken, and we are thinking of fish-camp supper and maybe a visit to Food Truck Friday in the city's historic South End. The trip wouldn't be complete without pimiento cheese, Cupcrazed cupcakes, and banana pudding … but the itinerary is still taking shape. Nobody knows more about the food of Charlotte and of the South in general than Charlotte Observer food editor, Kathleen Purvis, who has long been a friend of Roadfood and who will likely be joining us along the way.

Roz and I have plugged the event into our schedule. She is nearing the end of her dissertation and it appears that it is IRB approved by North Central and her hospital. If it I approved and we expect it will be, it is mostly downhill from there and she will have a bit more spare time. Charlotte is not a bad drive from Knoxville and we have always enjoyed the Charlotte area. The fish camp sounds great as well as the BBQ. If it works out, we will look forward to visiting with some old friends as the last three years have been tough time wise. Paul E. Smith Knoxville, TN

can't wait to hear your reviews of RO's which from what I can tell is a love or hate it kind of place.

The most famous food in Charlotte is the fried chicken at Price's Chicken Coop....that is a must.

Have you been to Price's lately? I was there a few years ago and unfortunately the Fried Chicken just wasn't very good, at least compared to my initial visit a few years earlier.

Besides the defunct Coffee Cup and Highland Mills Cafe, the best fried chicken is at La'wan's. I know Ayersian (Chris) would concurr

Price's may be the most famous because it's been around longer, but La'Wan's is indeed the best tasting chicken. I'd say that it is the best soul food in the area, but I've tried only a handful of places. Chris

I am told that one of the nice things about Twin Tops is that if you bring them fish you've just caught, they will clean and cook it for you. But I don't think we will schedule time for fishing on this trip!